Treatments, Synthetics, and Simulants The Diamond Course Diamond Council of America © 2015 Treatments, Synthetics, and Simulants In This Lesson: • A Bumpy Marriage • Basic Distinctions • Diamond Treatments • Synthetic Diamonds • Diamond Simulants • Representation and Disclosure • Testing and Identification • Problems and Potentials A BUMPY MARRIAGE Like many areas of modern life, jewelry retailing is affected by the marriage of nature and technology. It’s sometimes a bumpy marriage, but it’s here to stay. Treated diamonds, synthetic diamonds, and diamond simulants are good exam- ples. They’re among the increasingly diverse products that you may encounter in your work. They cause controversy within our industry and pose very real Synthetic rutile has been used challenges in our day-to-day interactions. At the same time, they can pro- as a diamond simulant for decades. Its telltale character- vide benefits for consumers while creating opportunities for your firm and istic is its extreme dispersion. you, too. All of this makes learning to recognize and explain them essen- tial to your development as a jewelry professional. In the diamond industry there’s genuine concern about treatments, synthetics, and simulants. Most of it comes from the fear that these products will harm consumer confidence in natural diamonds. So far the fear has been unfounded. There’s also no reason to expect serious trouble in the future, even though artificial processes and products are growing in variety, complexity, and availability. As a result, every professional needs to stay alert and keep his or her knowledge up-to-date. It’s likely that specific concerns or issues have already arisen in your store. If you sell these prod- ucts, how can you present them ethically and effectively? If you don’t offer them, what should you say to customers who ask about them? In any event, how do you avoid problems from misidentification or deception? The Diamond Course 8 Diamond Council of America © 1 Treatments, Synthetics, and Simulants Despite the difficulties surrounding them, treatments, synthetics, and simulants do play a positive role in today’s marketplace. For consumers, they expand the choices for beauty and value. To retail- ers they offer possibilities for increased sales. Perhaps most impor- tantly, they can help jewelers build trust with their customers. In this lesson you’ll examine diamond treat- ments, synthetics, and simulants – prod- ucts of nature and technology’s bumpy marriage. You’ll also find answers to important questions they raise. Lesson Objectives When you have successfully completed this lesson you will be able to: A synthetic diamond • Accurately define the terms, ‘treatment’, ‘synthetic’, and produced by GE. ‘simulant’. Photo courtesy GE. • Describe diamond treatments and their effects. • Answer questions about synthetic diamonds and simulants. • Follow ethical guidelines for representation and disclosure. • Explain how artificial processes and products can be identi- fied. • Understand how these processes and products fit into fine jewelry retailing. The Diamond Course 8 2 Diamond Council of America © Treatments, Synthetics, and Simulants BASIC DISTINCTIONS Treated diamonds, synthetic diamonds, and diamond simu- lants are all different products that are often confused by con- sumers. As a professional, you need to be able to explain the basic distinctions clearly and to provide the best information to suit the customer’s needs. Here are three simple definitions that you can share with customers: Synthetic diamonds have the same composition, • Treated diamond – A diamond that formed naturally, but underwent structure and characteris- a laboratory process to improve its appearance. tics as natural diamonds. They are, however, pro- • Synthetic diamond – A diamond that was made in a laboratory. It duced in a laboratory. has essentially the same composition, structure, and properties as a natu- Photo courtesy Russian Diamond ral diamond, but was produced by technological means. Company. • Diamond simulant – A diamond look-alike. Diamond simulants are NOT diamonds. They just resemble diamonds. Other terms that mean the same thing are diamond imitation, imitation diamond, and simulated diamond. Now let’s take a closer look at each type of product. DIAMOND TREATMENTS Most diamond Experts estimate that 3/4 of all gems are now being treated in one way or another. Many colored gemstones often undergo treatment as treatments have a matter of routine processing. These include amethyst, aquamarine, emerald, opal, ruby, sapphire, tanzanite, topaz, tourmaline, and cul- been developed tured pearls. Many different processes are used on colored gems, and within the last some are centuries old. (In The Colored Gemstones Course you’ll learn more about them). 50 years. Most diamond treatments have been developed within the last 50 years. They’re less prevalent than those for colored gems, but they are becoming more widespread, varied, and sophisticated. Diamond treatments can affect clarity or color. Only a few basic processes are used on a commercial scale. They can be performed in various ways, though, and these variations affect the final results. A diamond can also be given more than one treatment. The Diamond Course 8 Diamond Council of America © 3 Treatments, Synthetics, and Simulants Clarity Treatments • Laser drilling – Laser drilling lightens dark inclusions. To accomplish this, a high-power laser usually burns a tiny chan- nel into the diamond to reach the inclusion. Then a strong acid is injected to bleach it. The treatment leaves a very tiny laser drill hole which is generally invisible to the naked eye. Although the drill hole becomes an added inclusion, the process Laser drill holes usually extend from the table in a perpendicular improves the diamond’s overall appearance. direction to an inclusion in the In one variation of this treatment, pulsed lasers are focused on a diamond. They are usually best seen from the opposite side. shallow inclusion. The resulting heat makes the inclusion expand. This creates enough internal pressure to cause a break that extends from the inclusion to the diamond’s surface. In another variation, several laser channels are drilled beside each other. This makes an irregular groove that reaches the inclusion. In either case, acid is still used to bleach the inclusion. Both techniques leave microscop- ic traces that resemble natural clarity characteristics. Their purpose is to disguise the treatment, but occasionally, they can make a dia- mond less attractive than it would have been with standard lasering. • Fracture filling – This treatment makes fractures and cleavages less visible. If a break reaches the diamond’s surface, it can be filled with a glass-like material. The filler resembles diamond in transparency, color, and other properties. The treatment is often performed in a vacuum chamber, so the glass material will fill the break Fracture filling conceals fractures but in the right lighting their presence is completely. As a result, the break may almost seem to evidenced by colored flashes seen disappear. Occasionally a laser channel is drilled to an here as green and purple enclosed break and the filler is injected. This conceals Photos courtesy Gary Roskin. both the break and the drill hole. Laser drilling began in the 1970s, and fracture filling followed in the 1980s. Today both treatments are common. They’re considered ethical, as long as they’re disclosed to the customer. As a matter of significant difference, laser drilling is a permanent treatment, while fracture filling may not be. (There’s more about permanence in the “Representation and Disclosure” section below.) The Diamond Course 8 4 Diamond Council of America © Treatments, Synthetics, and Simulants The effects of fracture filling are regarded as cosmetic. The Clarity treatment diamond’s clarity may appear to improve as much as two grades. Its color may appear to improve as well because of the improves the improved transparency that results from the clear filling. The appearance break is still present, though, so the true quality remains the same. Without removing the treatment, there’s no way to grade of a diamond, the diamond accurately. For this reason, many trade laborato- but usually not ries won’t issue quality reports on fracture-filled diamonds. (Lesson 13 has more about trade laboratories and the services the grade. they provide.) Color Treatments • Irradiation – Irradiation most often creates fancy color in light yellow or brown diamonds. It can also deepen or intensify other nat- ural colors. There are several irradiation techniques, and they’re often combined with controlled heating. (The heating part of the process is called annealing.) The resulting colors include most of those seen in natural diamonds – various shades of yellow, brown, blue, pink, red, green, and orange. Some black diamonds are irradi- ated, too. Most of these, however, are very dark green and not true black. A treatment that’s related to irradiation is known as ion implanta- tion. It places boron atoms just beneath the diamond’s surface, produc- ing colors that range from blue to black. (This technique came from the computer industry, where it’s widely used to make computer chips with special properties.) The first irradiation experiments occurred in the early 1900s when researchers buried diamonds in radioactive chemicals. The diamonds turned green, and also became dangerously radioactive. Understandably, that procedure was soon abandoned. Only a small